Ash and Stone
by Fiddler in the Woods
Summary: In the centre of Castle Town City, Wild discovers a new memory. (Linked Universe) ONE-SHOT


**Hello.**

**I do not own **_**Legend of Zelda **_**or Linked Universe.**

**Enjoy!**

A boy raced through the streets of the destroyed city. Behind him, a large sentient device stalked. It's single blue eye dilated as it spotted the blond. A red laser aimed at his back; alarms blared from the pink illuminated machine.

Gritting his teeth, he turned around a corner. The laser disappeared from him as a blue beam of light soared passed him. A dented garbage can laid on its side as the machine neared him. Panicking, he climbed into the garbage can—hiding away from the world.

The machine, known as a Guardian, stopped around the corner. It scanned the area, the pink lights flashing. It scanned the roads, seeing nothing except for ruin and destruction. The boy watched at the pink lights faded and the machine went back to its patrol.

The boy, nicknamed Wild, let out a sigh of relief.

When he was told he was asleep for one hundred years, he didn't figure that the whole of Hyrule would be destroyed. The beautiful cities through the kingdom were ruins, broken down through by years and by the villains. Ever since the creations of the Guardians and Divine Beasts, almost 20 000 years ago, all of the Hylians spent their time making Hyrule into a technological advanced kingdom via Sheikah technology.

The Sheikah's created devices called Slates, and harvested electricity to give the world new light.

Compared to the calmness of the previous Hyrule he was in, Wild almost forgot how… wild his was.

Almost.

Crawling out of the garbage can, Wild's Sheikah Slate chimed. The faces of Wind, Twilight, and Legend appeared.

"Where are you?" Twilight wondered, "You weren't with us when we Switched, and you're not at the rendezvous."

"I know," Wild assured, "I got off track by Guardians."

"Are you okay?" Wind demanded, concerned, "You're not hurt, are you!"

Wild shook his head, "No, I'm fine."

"That's good." Twilight nodded, "But _where are you?"_

Wild looked around, "Ruins of Castle Town."

"What?" Legend choked, "Isn't that teeming with Guardians?"

Wild nodded, "So I've noticed."

"We're in Hateno City," Twilight explained, "How long will it take you to get to us?"

"I can teleport to the Shrine."

Twilight nodded, "Alright, cub. Time, Four, and Sky should arrive soon after you."

"See you in a few seconds."

With a small click, Wild was left alone in the ruins of Castle Town City. He started to walk through the quiet streets, no Guardians hiding from his view. Tall buildings were crumbled, some only had the foundation left—which caused some barricades for Wild. Although the city was the closest to the Castle, it wasn't as destroyed as expected. The metal structures of the buildings were somewhat sound, although they were just skeletons threatening to tumble.

Wild was fiddling with his Sheikah Slate, prepping for teleportation, when a building caught his attention from the corner of his eye.

He stared up at the damaged building and nearly dropped his Slate as his whole entire body froze.

* * *

The Royal University of Castle Town City was one of the greatestschool in all of Hyrule. It had all sorts of studies, from academics to knights to farming. Located in the centre of Castle Town City, it was close to the heart of Hyrule—the Castle.

Although it seemed to be prestigious, RUCTC was accommodating to all students, and all of their students needs.

Including the very needs of one Princess Zelda.

Zelda was studying at RUCTC against the wishes of her father. She was trying to study runes and, somehow, unlock her powers among the way. She was constantly followed by her person guard—a man named Link.

Link, although not a student, was given a free pass at the university because of his very important job of protecting the princess. His motorcycle, Master Cycle Zero, was not—although, there was spot reserved outside of the university grounds for it.

Horses were banned from the inner centre of Castle Town City, for they caused too much of a mess on the tidied roads. Motorcycles were the most common vehicle in the inner centre.

Zelda had been studying at RUCTC for two years before Ganon attacked.

She and Link would walk around the campus, her telling him about her newest idea—although, it didn't seem to work out as she hoped.

One day, they didn't talk.

They simply enjoyed the beauty of RUCTC's garden by the entrance. Silent Princesses bloomed by the outside, bordering the rest of the flowers. Zelda would bend down and smell them for, they were her favourite flower.

Link, who had been cautiously surveying the front of the university, couldn't help but smile at her passion.

His smile dropped at the sound of a motorcycle revving and someone yelling, "That's my bike!"

A thick, black motorcycle speed towards Zelda. The rider, decked out in a dark outfit, a long hood over his face, smirked as he neared.

"Princess!" Link warned.

She glanced at him before he pushed her out of the way of the motorcycle. She fell into the garden, "Link?!"

Link could barely dodge the motorcycle before he was slammed right into it. He flew above the rider and landed onto the hard ground. There was a loud crack as he hit the stone.

The rider, cursing under his breath, rode on—leaving the scene of the crime.

Zelda screamed.

* * *

When Link woke up next, he was lying on a bed.

He was in his room, lying on _his_ bed. There was the faint buzzing that occurred after heavy doses of potions.

He could barely remember what happened—but he must've been really injured.

Flashes came back to him slowly. The flowers. The rider. Zelda.

He bolted up in his bed, his back sore.

Was Princess Zelda okay?

"Woah there, Link," a voice to his left said, "Take it easy."

Link quickly surveyed the room, cursing himself for not doing that sooner. A vase with Silent Princesses inside was on his nightstand, along with a bowl of apples. His father sat to his left.

"Where's the Princess?" he demanded, "Is she alright?"

His father nodded, "Yes, Link. She's fine. You saved her life."

Link sighed in relief, "It's my duty."

"Link, what do you remember?"

Link furrowed his brows, "What happened to that motorist?"

"He got away."

Link cursed.

"It's not your fault," his father assured, "You kept the princess alive. She has been patiently awaiting your awakening."

Link didn't say anything.

His father sighed, "She left you some flowers."

Link looked at the Silent Princesses.

Standing up, his father lightly clapped his bare shoulder, "You should rest. You're body needs to heal naturally."

Link nodded.

"Rest up," his father suggested before leaving the room.

Link sat in his bed, looking at the flowers. There was a folded note sticking up from the vase, he reached and grabbed it. Unfolding it, he recognised Zelda's handwriting.

_Link,_

_I want to say thank you for saving my life._

_I know this isn't much, but I hope you enjoy these flowers and apples._

_-Zelda_

Link placed down her note before grabbing the vase. He smelled the flowers before placing the vase down and grabbing an apple.

Potions made him quite hungry.

* * *

Wild blinked himself from his memories.

He still clutched his Sheikah Slate, and it was making his fingers go numb. Looking down at the darkened screen, he wiped the stinging from his eyes. The sky turned dark overhead. Luckily, it was not a Blood Moon.

The others must've been getting worried about him.

He glanced at the university one last time, pausing to look at where a garden laid in his memories.

All that was left was ash and stone.

Looking down at his Sheikah Slate again, he tapped its screen and was overcome by blue.

* * *

Twilight was pulled from his thoughts at the soft sound of someone teleporting. He jumped up from where he sat at the bottom of the Shrine. Turning around, he was greeted by Wild.

"Hey, Twi," Wild greeted, jumping off of the Shrine.

"Hey, cub," Twilight paused, "What took you so long?"

Wild shrugged, "I was lost in thought."

Twilight nodded, "Come on—the others are waiting for us."

As the two headed towards where Wild's house laid, Wild mused. "Hey, Twi?"

"Yeah?"

"Do we have any apples?"

**I hope you enjoyed!**

**This was just a short story from a prompt from the discord, and a different prompt from my writing class. I smashed the two together and wrote this!**

**I wanted to write a light AU where Wild's world took place 20 000 years past the hero instead of 10 000, so that it could be a modern-ish AU. I mostly wanted to write Wild's world as if it was a dystopian city—because that was my writing prompt. And the modern AU was from the discord.**

**So, I thought—why not a modern dystopian AU?**

**This was fun and very quick to write.**

**I don't know what else to say…**

**Fiddlerinthewoods OUT!**


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